Last summer we spent a day at the track at Mooney’s Bay with Special Olympics. It was a blistering hot day with very little respite or shade.
Ever prepared we took water bottles with us. Thinking myself smart I fashioned a holder for my water bottle and clipped it onto my ever-present Targus carry bag. Too easy – I could carry my phones (yes I always carry two when out of the house but that is a whole other story), maybe a snack or two, notepad and pens, and my water bottle. This beat carrying another bag or hanging onto my water bottle for several hours.
Quickly I realized the folly of my ways, as the water bottle (aluminum of course) swung wildly in its holder as I walked, raising a nasty red welt on my knobbly right knee! I put up with the situation for the day, mostly carrying my water bottle in my hand or setting it down in the shade, but I knew there had to be a better way.
Mother Nature has a way of putting ideas in your head when faced with sharp, stinging pain, and by the time I had arrived home I had an idea. Life though, has seemed to move more quickly than expected this fall and winter and it was only this morning I was able to haul out my sewing kit and have a go!
Of course I used recycled materials from my tickle trunk, the lower leg off an old pair of jeans, leather and a hook clasp out of my leather bucket, even a length of quarter-inch bowline that I have been carrying around since my last beachcombing at Oyster Bay in 2006 (gawd has it been that long? *sigh*).
So here it is, a Beach Essentials Bag, able to carry what you need to the beach, with Mr. Water Bottle tucked safely away from my knobbly right! My stitchery is not world class but it is a proof of concept I will probably circle back on and tidy up at some point. Besides do I really care? No designer label on this puppy!
🙂
Mark